Descent on Italy Demo
---------------------

Requirements
------------

 - WIN95
 - 16-bit graphics or better
 - Mouse
 - Soundcard (optional)

To Run
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Double click ADOIDEMO.EXE in Explorer or File Manager.


Instructions
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This is a beta version of Descent on Italy, but by
the time you are reading this, the game should be
finished.  Consequently, any bugs or unfinished
areas in the gameplay will be fixed in the full
game.

For this demo version, you can play either the
Americans or Germans and take command of a small
recon force in a meeting engagement.  The full
game allows up to 128 units in a single battle as
well as larger map sizes, British and Italian
forces and far more different units than in this
demo, but this should give you a taster of the
full game.

For this sort of engagment, the objective is to
completly destroy the opposition, although you may
terminate the battle early by selecting
|File |End Mission.

The mouse controls gameplay, here is a summary of
the possible actions:-

Clicking on a friendly unit:
Left/Right mouse button - Select the unit.

Clicking on an unoccupied square:
Left mouse Button - Move to this location.
Right mouse button - Turn toward this location.

Clicking on an enemy unit:
Left mouse button - Attack using primary weapon.
Right mouse button - Attack using secondary.

Menu Summary
------------

|File
-----

For the demo version, only the exit option is
enabled.

|VIEW
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 - |Information

Shows casualties on either side.

 - |Show Flags

Displays identification tags for the units.

 - |Show Objectives

Displays the larger flags which indicate the
positions of the American and German sides.
If a side captures all of the enemies objectives
then the enemy units cannot retreat or go into
a rout, instead they remain pinned down or
surrender.

 - |Show Squares

Displays the square boundaries.

|Units
------

 - |Plastic Pieces

This colours all Allied troops blue, and all
Axis troops red.  This is to aid in identification
if you cannot pick out units on your side if
, for example, their is close fighting or your
units are in areas with heavy cover.

 - |Painted Pieces

Returns units to their painted format.  Generally,
you also need to turn the flags on for this mode.

|Options
--------

 - |Preferences

From here you can choose what side you are playing,
the quality of the troops on both sides, and the
sound options.  Select sound mixing for the best
effects, but this requires a Pentium to prevent
breaks in the sound when the screen is redrawing.
If single samples are being played, they are
played in a stack or queue.  This is to ensure the
atmosphere of the battle is retained, although it
commonly means the sounds rarely tie in with what
is happening on screen.  Since this is a turn
based game though, thats OK. :)

 - |Computer AI

In the full game you can change these values to
alter the personality of your 'virtual opponent'.
Each mission has it's own default for the Allied
and Axis sides, and with the Mission Designer, you
can create your own rules too, as well as change
them at any time during a battle.

|Win
----

- |640x480 Setup |800x600 Setup

Choose either option to correspond with your
screen resoloution, and the menus are setup in the
relevant default positions.  Note that you can
create your own defaults that are loaded each
time you load Descent on Italy, by dragging and
positioning the windows yourself.

Window Summary
--------------

A quick summary of the windows surrounding the game
window.

 - Unit Data

Displays the data for the selected unit.  The 'F'
button, when selected, allows you to move whole
formations all at once.  The number buttons show
which formation you are moving, and these can be
changed during play too.

 - Location Data

Displays information about the square under the
cursor, as well as the most recent unit under the
cursor.  The most useful info. here is the range,
since the visibility for the demo version is just
1500m.  Also note that all weapon ranges are
limited to this range too.  Clicking the arrowed
button calls up the relvant data page in the data
book.

 - Battle Map

Shows the terrain and visible units.  Enemy units
blink inversely to friendly units.

 - Support Units

Allows you to call in artillery and air support,
though the demo only allows artillery.

 - Data Book

Shows data about the selected unit.  This differs
from the unit data window because it shows
performance aspects about the unit.  The full
version allows you to page through the book and
compare enemy units with your own.

Ordering
--------

Read ORDER.TXT for information how to order.

Thanks for trying Descent on Italy!